


Tarantella

by angstytimelord



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: M/M, Will doesn't like being social
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-21 03:03:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3675006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstytimelord/pseuds/angstytimelord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will is exhilarated by the dance that Hannibal is leading him in, even though he's not entirely comfortable with the changes in his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tarantella

Hannibal led him on a merry dance, didn't he?

Will smiled ruefully at that thought; Hannibal did indeed keep him off-balance, whirling around as though in a dance, one that he sometimes found it hard to keep up with.

But he had to admit, that dance was exhilarating. He didn't want it to stop; it gave him a reason to go on, a reason to get up and face every day.

Now that he was involved with Hannibal, the days seemed to fly by him, when before, they'd simply plodded along, each day very like the one that had come before it. There hadn't seemed to be much in his life, other than his teaching, his field work, and the time spent at home with his dogs.

Really, there hadn't been anything more than that. There'd been his leisure time, and his work. He hadn't really had any friends; he'd had colleagues at work, but that was it.

Hannibal had opened up his life to so much more than that. Now, not only did he have friends, but he actually had a social life, something that he'd never planned on.

Something that he'd never wanted, actually. But he had it now.

Will couldn't help smiling at that, shaking his head. He would never be a social creature.

His boyfriend had succeeded in bringing him out of his self-imposed isolation in some ways, but Will knew that he'd nver be completely comfortable in social situations.

Hannibal knew that, too, which was why he and Will spent most of their time alone at home. It was what they both most enjoyed, and Will wasn't going to complain about it.

But there were still times when he was expected to be social, as Hannibal enjoyed giving dinner parties -- and going out to social events. Now that they were indisputably a couple, and everyone in their little circle knew that they were involved, he couldn't avoid people in the way that he used to.

Will sighed softly at that thought, pushing it out of his mind. He'd deal with being around people when he had to be. Right now, he didn't want to think about them.

He'd much rather think about Hannibal, and the roundabout little game that he and Will seemed to play quite often. The little cat-and-mouse games that Hannibal liked.

Around and around they circled each other, until Will was dizzy and gasping, and hardly knew which was was up. His boyfriend had a way of confusing him, of making him feel that he wasn't quite sure of just what he was doing, of which way he should turn next.

But in a way, he loved it. Being with Hannibal was like dancing a never-ending tarantella, one that gave him a feeling of freedom that he'd never had before.

He had to concentrate on the steps to be sure that he was making the right ones, but he found that he actually enjoyed that. He felt that he was using his mind in ways that he hadn't expected.

Hannibal made him _think_. Hannibal made him use his mind.

No one else had ever done that. No one else had even come close.

This tarantella that Hannibal led him in had him spinning around, breathless, wondering what would happen next. He had never felt this way before.

His entire life had been about hiding himself away from people, not revealing himself to them. Hannibal tore away the masks that he'd always hidden behind, exposing him.

Hannibal's tarantella led him out into the open, made him the center of attention. All right, so maybe he was only the center of _Hannibal's_ attention, but that was one person more than he'd thought he would have. This merry dance that his boyfriend led him on had brought him out of his shell.

He wasn't entirely comfortable with it, not yet. But he wasn't ready to give up this newfound life that he had, a life that he was finding he enjoyed much more than he'd thought he would.

Maybe being social wasn't so bad, Will told himself with a wry smile. Maybe he'd been wrong to hide himself away in isolation for so long. Maybe it was time for him to change his life for good.

Though he wasn't quite sure of that. Not yet.

Still, he was enjoying this dance, enjoying the rapidity of it, the whirling, spinning sensation of being out of his depth. It was addictive, this dance of sociability.

Was this how other people felt about it, too? Did they enjoy it as much as he did, finding it to be something new and different, something that held their interest _because_ it was new to them -- or did others simply take it for granted and not think about it in the way that he did?

It didn't really matter to him how other people felt, he told himself with a smile. They weren't being led on the dance that Hannibal was sweeping him along in.

He planned to be tripping the light fantastic with Hannibal for a long time to come.

Their tarantella was only beginning. He had years to learn how to follow Hannibal's lead in this dance, a lifetime that they would spend together, whirling and spinning.

He would let this tarantella lead him where it would, until he was spent and breathless, unable to dance any longer, and only then would he sit it out. He would enjoy the dance, and go where it took him.

After all, he had a lifetime to enjoy participating in this dance with Hannibal, didn't he?

The man he loved wouldn't steer him wrong. At least, he didn't _think_ so.


End file.
